An article on Saturday about popular anger against Israel in the Arab world over the Gaza invasion overstated, in some editions, what is known about Palestinian civilian and combatant deaths in Gaza since Israel's military operation began on Dec. 27. While hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, as the article reported, the number of combatants among them is unclear. Combatants are not necessarily "most" of the total. (Emphasis added.)

The New York Times seems to be saying that it does not actually know if most of the Gaza casualties were combatants or civilians.

Why, then, hasn't it corrected Rashid Khalidi's claim that "most" were civilians? Indeed, the Times' own coverage seems to suggest that it's more likely that most are combatants as opposed to civilians:

The United Nations estimated a few days ago that a quarter of the dead were civilians.... But Palestinian residents and Israeli officials say that Hamas is tending its own wounded in separate medical centers, not in public hospitals, and that it is difficult to know the number of dead Hamas fighters, many of whom were not wearing uniforms. (Steven Erlanger, "As Gaza Battle Goes On, Israel Is Set to Negotiate With Egypt on Cease-Fire," Jan. 8)

We also still wait for the Times' correction on Khalidi's bogus quote.

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